Marin move jeopardizes Gavin Newsom’s S.F. party seat

After all that intraparty squabbling, now he may have to give it up after recently moving to Marin with his family.

Newsom nemesis Aaron Peskin, who chairs the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, the local arm of the party, sent a letter to Newsom on Thursday asking for “clarification as to your current county of residence.”

If Newsom no longer lives in the city, under state law and the committee’s bylaws, he can no longer serve on the local DCCC, which decides official Democratic Party endorsements and funnels money to races. Instead, he would become a member of the DCCC in whatever county he resides in.

The whole residency issue can be a stickler. Just ask Ed Jew. It can also be tricky. Courts ruled that President Obama’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, could run for mayor of Chicago despite having lived in Washington, D.C., immediately before running, in part because Emmanuel kept his home in Chicago and intended to return after working in the presidential administration.

“If Peskin spent as much time trying to win elections as he did obsessing about Gavin Newsom over the past few years, the Democratic Party in San Francisco might be a stronger organization,” Ragone said.

Even if Newsom has to vacate the seat, it won’t shift the balance of power on the so-called “D triple C.” Peskin’s more liberal progressives already have a majority over the Newsom-led moderate wing of the local Democratic Party.